Sevilla to Guillena

The host at my hostel had drawn me a map the day before, and I still managed to get lost about 6 blocks into my Camino. This pattern continued as I made my way through the suburban streets of Camas and Santiponce. At the edge of Svilla, I came to a mural and obelisk that marked 1000km to Santiago.  Huge smile. I went up the steps to find a 5-way roundabout. Dumbstruck. I knew I was supposed to cross a cycling bridge and follow the river, but what I apparently did was cross some other bridge and followed a dirt path along the Guadalquiver.

I stood in a field with some random free-range horse, with no discernible path ahead. All I could see was a sketchy underpass littered with mounds of trash. No way was I going down there! This can't possibly be right. Well, it wasn't. 

I finally found what looked like an established hike and bike trail, followed it, and found one of those reassuring yellows arrows that guide us peregrinos. Yes! Here we go! Probably 2 miles later I realized I hadn't seen one of those friendly markers in awhile. I turned on my phone, activated my GPS, and confirmed that I was indeed off track. The route I was on would get me where I needed to go eventually but it just put me on edge. So I figured out a route that would bring me to the trail I wanted to be on.

I recognized the truth it held. If you're on a journey, especially if it's new (and you can't figure out what all the knobs in the bathroom do), and even if you read the guidebook the night before, you're going to get lost. You just are. Your best hope is to have the awareness to realize you're lost, consult the guidebook (+ make sense of it in light of what you see around you), and plan a way forward.

HINT: every way is foreword on the Camino, even if it looks like going back.

For months I wasn't sure how I was going to do this, how my body was going to walk 22km in the 97 degree blazing sun with a 20lb pack. While there are much longer days ahead and the blisters have yet to form, somewhere between my stop for cafe con leche and the rolling fields of cotton, corn, and harvested sunflower...I realized I was doing the thing I don't know I could do.

As I arrived at the albergue in Guillena, I was greeted by the two peregrinos from my room last night (one from Barcelona and traveling by bicycle, the other from Madrid). Diego gave me directions to the supermarket and guess what? I got lost. I guess there are plenty of things I still need to learn to do alongside the help of others.